


.13 New Beginnings

by LaPilar



Series: Star Wars Imagines/One-Shots [12]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Female Friendship, First Kiss, Leia's daughter!reader, Love Confession, One Shot, Post-TRoS, Reader Insert, Reylo - Freeform, TRoS Spoilers, it's May y'all, just watch it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24211579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaPilar/pseuds/LaPilar
Summary: You and Rey discuss your pasts and futures after the fall of the First Order.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Reader, Poe Dameron/You, Rey (Star Wars) & Reader, Rey (Star Wars) & You
Series: Star Wars Imagines/One-Shots [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1255886
Kudos: 31





	.13 New Beginnings

"What's on your mind?"

Rey looked up with wide eyes, almost as if I'd startled her, which shouldn't have been possible for a Jedi. "What?"

I smiled at that, lowering myself to sit next to her on the log. It was a ways off from the reveling, which'd been an ongoing thing since the First Order and the emperor had been defeated at Exegol a week ago. The days were spent planning for a new New Republic, but the nights were spent with bonfires and reunions and kissing and remembering. From where we were I could see Poe sitting by the fire, entertaining a legion of fighters with some war story.

"What're you thinking about?" I repeated.

"Don't tell me you're Force-sensitive too, now," she said, half tease and half wary.

I couldn't blame her. I hadn't been surprised to learn that Finn was Force-sensitive, but most people had been when he'd blurted out the news three days after our return from Exegol. 

"You don't need the Force to see that something's bothering you," I said simply, folding my hands in my lap. "What's wrong?"

"Ben," she admitted, so softly that I nearly missed it.

"You miss him?" I gave her the courtesy of a question, even if I knew the answer.

She nodded, swallowing as she looked down at the ground in front of us. 

She'd given the Resistance a story, but it wasn't the complete one. As far as everyone else knew, Ben Skywalker had turned at the last second, saving Rey's life and allowing her to defeat the emperor.

As Ben's sister, I knew it was infinitely more complicated than that. 

"I miss him too. When I think of him, I think I'm probably lucky the Force-sensitivity passed me by," I admitted. "It doesn't seem to always play out well in my family."

"Maybe if you had it you could've faced him," she said half-heartedly.

I hesitated then, not sure how much she knew and how much I should tell her. "Rey, I would've done anything to take some of that burden off your shoulders. My uncle and my mother knew there was something about you. They told me, before they died. They knew... they knew about the dyad thing."

She turned to me, eyes wide with surprise. "What?"

I shrugged. "If they'd told you what was going to happen, it wouldn't have happened. And trust me: you don't owe anyone the truth about Ben. But I want you to know that you have someone you can talk to. I'd imagine I know as much as anyone other than you."

She nodded, visibly calmed by my words. "Thank you. I wish..."

I sat patiently.

"I wish he had turned earlier. I know that's not possible. And he tempted me, so much. I nearly joined him several times but if I'd known what was to happen..." She sighed, frustrated with the difficulty of getting her feelings out as words. Her hands busied themselves fiddling with her new lightsaber. "If I'd known what was to happen, I imagine I would have savored the time we had more." She turned to me then, giving me an emphatic look. "There's nobody who has ever known me like he did. And nobody ever will."

"Welcome to the word of us normals, Rey," I teased before getting serious. "I'm not the most qualified to give love advice, but one thing I've learned is that there's never enough time. You savor it, you cling to it, you let it pass by without so much as a thought- it doesn’t matter. If you love someone, you could live with them for eons and still, the moment you separate, it won't have been enough."

As I spoke, I let my gaze slide over to the hotshot flyboy I'd come to think of as my own, still busy at being the most popular person at the party.

We'd be separating soon. If I looked like my mother, I'd inherited my father's personality. I wasn't a politician, and my name didn't exactly strike confidence into many hearts, not that they'd ever admit it to my face. I figured it was best to the let the new government form without the influence of any Skywalkers this time.

Rey was busy thinking about my words. "You're right," she finally conceded. "I just hope he knows..." She trailed off, and this time she didn't finish.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, shaking her lightly. "I know he knows. And so do you."

She looked up into the night sky, inky black and clouded over. Her eyes sparked with recognition, even if to me the sky was empty as always. "I do know," she murmured, letting her eyes flicker back down to this planetary plane. 

We were quiet for awhile then, enjoying the laughter coming from around the bonfire, the sounds of merrymaking.

"Are you going to tell him?" she asked suddenly, surprising me with the quickness and sureness of her words.

"What?"

"Poe. Are you going to tell him you love him?" She gave me an unnervingly familiar look then, as if with her eyes drilling into my own she could hear everything I'd ever thought, could feel everything I'd ever felt and taste everything I'd ever tasted. 

I shook off the shiver running down to my spine and chalked it up, as I always did, to her isolated upbringing and her connection to the Force. She didn't make others uncomfortable often, but when she did it was potent. 

"I don't love him," I argued, not sure where I was going with this. If she knew, she knew, and there wasn't anything I could say to convince her otherwise. And truth be told part of me wanted to spill the contents of my heart to her. Loving him like this, as I had for years- it ached. 

She smiled at my denial, and if anything, I was glad to have taken her mind off her own problems. "Yes, you do. I'm not sure if the others have noticed but the way you look at him when you think nobody's watching... it's the stuff of myth. A love that could start legends."

I blushed at that, looking over at Poe to take some of the heat off me. She was my priest, and this dark night felt safe enough to be a confessional. "I can't tell him. I won't. Even assuming he returns the sentiment, I can't saddle him with that. I'm leaving. He's staying to work in the new government."

It was a dual confession because I hadn't told anyone I was leaving.

I'd successfully shocked her. "What? Why? We need you."

"The name Skywalker doesn't exactly instill confidence in a populace," I deadpanned.

She opened her mouth to argue, but I beat her to it. "I'm not saying that for pity. It's the truth, and you know it. Darth Vader, Kylo Ren- even Luke's disappearance." My tongue felt heavy in my mouth, my throat thick with the weight of the sins of my forefathers. "Besides, I was never one for politics."

"You could stick to the military side of things," she suggested.

"My dad raised me as a smuggler, not a general. When the time came, my mom didn't pick me for that role. I know what I'm good at."

"You can't possibly go back to smuggling. You'll be thrown in prison."

"Only if I'm bad at it."

I'd meant it as a joke and smiled, but she was still frowning. 

"You can't just leave. I need you here; Finn needs you here. And Poe? Poe would lose his mind. I don't share other peoples' secrets, but I will if it'll get you to forget this crazy idea. Poe loves you just as much as you love him. If not more."

My heart caught in my throat, and I had to swallow twice before I could answer. "How do you know?"

"He told me himself. That night on D’Qar when we all thought you were dead."

I remembered that night. It hadn't been a good one, and Poe had hugged me when I'd come back, his muscles shaking like trees in a thunderstorm. 

"Your beacon went out and Poe fell apart. Leia had to restrain him from hopping in his X-wing and coming to rescue you."

"Why wouldn't he have told me?"

She gave a small smile. "You know Poe. It wouldn't have been the responsible thing to do. You were coworkers. Besides, he didn't want to ruin things between the two of you."

The fight fell from my lips at that, and my eyes scanned the clearing to find Poe. That did sound exactly like him; he'd been so steadfast in his dedication to victory that he would've executed BB-8 if he thought he was a traitor.

"Would you excuse me a moment," I said, rising from the log.

Rey grinned up at me. "Go get what you deserve."

I crossed the space between us in big steps, fearing I'd lose my resolve. A space had opened on Poe's right side, and I stepped over the log before lowering myself onto it.

The pilot didn't seem surprised at my appearance. He gave a lazy smile, face tired both from the lateness of the hour and the bottle of wine in his hand. "Haven't seen you in awhile, princess. How's life?"

"Life is good, flyboy. You told enough war stories for the night?"

A cheer ran through the gathered crowd, and I steeled my nerves once more. "Guess that answers that," I joked, leaning closer to him.

He swallowed visibly when my thigh knocked against his. I almost felt bad for him.

"You were talking about the military structure yesterday, right?" I asked casually enough.

"That's right."

"Could you find me a place in all that?"

His answer was instantaneous, a goofy smile lighting up his face. "Of course! I didn't even ask you before; I thought it was just understood."

I chuckled at that, and things devolved into a slightly uncomfortable silence. I followed my instincts and pulled the bottle from his hands before pressing it to my lips and indulging in some liquid courage. 

He didn't try to stop me, and I had to take a deep breath when I finally took my lips away. Another cheer rose through the crowd, and I blushed, setting the bottle aside.

"I’d been thinking about it, wondering what my life would be after the war was over. But you know what made the decision for me?"

"What?"

"I never want to leave you." I whispered it, leaning closer as I did so only he could hear, and before I could lose nerve or he could respond I pressed my lips to his own.

All his exhaustion disappeared in a split second. His hands came up to cradle my face, taking control even if I'd started us off.

The outside world slipped away, but began to slip right back in when we pulled apart. Those around us had broken into raucous cheering, louder than ever before.

Even if my cheeks burned, I tuned it out, focusing on Poe's hand on my cheek. He refused to let me look away from him, holding me still with a steady gaze. It spoke of stability, something I'd been craving ever since the New Republic had fallen.

"You never will."


End file.
